Articles | Volume 15, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-3423-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Lateral thermokarst patterns in permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway
Léo C. P. Martin
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Jan Nitzbon
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
Johanna Scheer
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Technical University of Denmark, Anker Engelunds Vej 1, Lyngby, Denmark
Kjetil S. Aas
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Trond Eiken
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Moritz Langer
Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research,
Telegrafenberg A45, 14473 Potsdam, Germany
Geography Department, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
Simon Filhol
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Bernd Etzelmüller
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Sebastian Westermann
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, University of Oslo, Blindern, 0316 Oslo, Norway
Center for Biogeochemistry in the Anthropocene, Oslo, Norway
Related authors
Tamara Mathys, Muslim Azimshoev, Zhoodarbeshim Bektursunov, Christian Hauck, Christin Hilbich, Murataly Duishonakunov, Abdulhamid Kayumov, Nikolay Kassatkin, Vassily Kapitsa, Leo C. P. Martin, Coline Mollaret, Hofiz Navruzshoev, Eric Pohl, Tomas Saks, Intizor Silmonov, Timur Musaev, Ryskul Usubaliev, and Martin Hoelzle
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2795, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2795, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a comprehensive geophysical dataset on permafrost in the data-scarce Tien Shan and Pamir mountain regions of Central Asia. It also introduces a novel modeling method to quantify ground ice content across different landforms. The findings indicate that this approach is well-suited for characterizing ice-rich permafrost, which is crucial for evaluating future water availability and assessing risks associated with thawing permafrost.
Léo C. P. Martin, Sebastian Westermann, Michele Magni, Fanny Brun, Joel Fiddes, Yanbin Lei, Philip Kraaijenbrink, Tamara Mathys, Moritz Langer, Simon Allen, and Walter W. Immerzeel
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 4409–4436, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4409-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Across the Tibetan Plateau, many large lakes have been changing level during the last decades as a response to climate change. In high-mountain environments, water fluxes from the land to the lakes are linked to the ground temperature of the land and to the energy fluxes between the ground and the atmosphere, which are modified by climate change. With a numerical model, we test how these water and energy fluxes have changed over the last decades and how they influence the lake level variations.
Clarissa Willmes, Kristoffer Aalstad, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3142, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3142, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
In permafrost areas, the spatial variability of the snow cover significantly affects the ground thermal regime. This study presents an algorithm that integrates satellite data into a permafrost model to enhance the spatial detail of ground temperature simulations. At a site on Svalbard, the algorithm improves simulations of ground temperatures especially for wind-blown ridges with little snow, as well as snow-drift sites.
Marco Mazzolini, Kristoffer Aalstad, Esteban Alonso-González, Sebastian Westermann, and Désirée Treichler
The Cryosphere, 19, 3831–3848, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3831-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3831-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, we showcase the use the satellite laser altimeter ICESat-2, which is able to retrieve snow depth in areas where snow amounts are still poorly estimated despite the importance of these water resources. We can update snow models with these observations through algorithms that spatially propagate the information beyond the satellite profiles. The positive results show the potential of the approach to improve snow simulations, in terms of average snow depth and spatial distribution.
Joana Pedro Baptista, Gonçalo Brito Guapo Teles Vieira, António Manuel de Carvalho Soares Correia, Hyoungseok Lee, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 19, 3459–3476, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3459-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-3459-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost underlies ice-free areas of Antarctica, but its response to long-term warming is unclear due to a limited number of monitoring sites. To address this, we used the CryoGrid model, forced with climate data, to estimate permafrost temperatures and active layer thickness at King Sejong Station since 1950. The results show ground temperatures rising 0.25 °C per decade and the active layer thickening by 2 m. Warming has accelerated since 2015, highlighting the need for continued monitoring.
Jacqueline K. Knutson, François Clayer, Peter Dörsch, Sebastian Westermann, and Heleen A. de Wit
Biogeosciences, 22, 3899–3914, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3899-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-22-3899-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Thawing permafrost at Iškoras in northern Norway is transforming peat plateaus into thermokarst ponds and wetlands. These small ponds show striking oversaturation of dissolved greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), partly owing to organic matter processing. Streams nearby emit CO2, driven by turbulence. As permafrost disappears, carbon dynamics will change, potentially increasing emissions of CH4. This study highlights the need to integrate these changes into climate models.
Mehriban Aliyeva, Michael Angelopoulos, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Frederieke Miesner, Scott Dallimore, Dustin Whalen, Lukas U. Arenson, and Pier Paul Overduin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2675, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2675, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we investigate the ongoing transformation of terrestrial permafrost into subsea permafrost on a rapidly eroding Arctic island using electrical resistivity tomography and numerical modelling. We draw on 60 years of shoreline data to support our findings. This work is important for understanding permafrost loss in Arctic coastal areas and for guiding future efforts to protect vulnerable shorelines.
Anfisa Pismeniuk, Peter Dörsch, Mats Ippach, Clarissa Willmes, Sunniva Sheffield, Norbert Pirk, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3059, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3059, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Biogeosciences (BG).
Short summary
Short summary
Thermokarst ponds in high latitudes are important methane (CH4) sources in summer. Meanwhile, these lakes are ice-covered for around 60 % of the year and can accumulate CH4 in the ice and within the underlying water column, which potentially results in high emissions during the ice-off. Here, we present data on wintertime CH4 storage of ponds located within two peat plateaus in Northern Norway. Our results show that the wintertime CH4 storage can contribute up to 40 % to the annual CH4 budget.
Robin B. Zweigel, Dashtseren Avirmed, Khurelbaatar Temuujin, Clare Webster, Hanna Lee, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2366, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2366, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
Two years of data along a forest disturbance gradient in Mongolia show a larger annual ground surface temperature range in dead and logged forests than intact forest, while the range is dampened in stands of young regrowth. Compared to intact forest, mean annual ground surface temperatures are 0.5 °C colder in dead and logged forest and dense stands of young regrowth. This is linked to differences in vegetation and surface cover due to the disturbance and patterns in livestock activity.
Ricarda Winkelmann, Donovan P. Dennis, Jonathan F. Donges, Sina Loriani, Ann Kristin Klose, Jesse F. Abrams, Jorge Alvarez-Solas, Torsten Albrecht, David Armstrong McKay, Sebastian Bathiany, Javier Blasco Navarro, Victor Brovkin, Eleanor Burke, Gokhan Danabasoglu, Reik V. Donner, Markus Drüke, Goran Georgievski, Heiko Goelzer, Anna B. Harper, Gabriele Hegerl, Marina Hirota, Aixue Hu, Laura C. Jackson, Colin Jones, Hyungjun Kim, Torben Koenigk, Peter Lawrence, Timothy M. Lenton, Hannah Liddy, José Licón-Saláiz, Maxence Menthon, Marisa Montoya, Jan Nitzbon, Sophie Nowicki, Bette Otto-Bliesner, Francesco Pausata, Stefan Rahmstorf, Karoline Ramin, Alexander Robinson, Johan Rockström, Anastasia Romanou, Boris Sakschewski, Christina Schädel, Steven Sherwood, Robin S. Smith, Norman J. Steinert, Didier Swingedouw, Matteo Willeit, Wilbert Weijer, Richard Wood, Klaus Wyser, and Shuting Yang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1899, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Earth System Dynamics (ESD).
Short summary
Short summary
The Tipping Points Modelling Intercomparison Project (TIPMIP) is an international collaborative effort to systematically assess tipping point risks in the Earth system using state-of-the-art coupled and stand-alone domain models. TIPMIP will provide a first global atlas of potential tipping dynamics, respective critical thresholds and key uncertainties, generating an important building block towards a comprehensive scientific basis for policy- and decision-making.
Pauline Walz, Oliver Fritz, Sabrina Marx, Marlin M. Mueller, Christian Thiel, Josefine Lenz, Soraya Kaiser, Roxanne Frappier, Alexander Zipf, and Moritz Langer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1778, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1778, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We explored how citizen scientists can help map changes in Arctic landscapes. Using a web tool we created, more than 100 volunteers contributed the approximate center points of particular ground patterns called ice-wedge polygons in aerial images from Alaska and Canada. Our work shows that the data created by volunteers can be used to reconstruct ice-wedge polygon networks and provide valuable insights on the state of frozen ground in the Arctic.
Jan Nitzbon, Moritz Langer, Luca Alexander Müller-Ißberner, Elisabeth Dietze, and Martin Werner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4011, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4011, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Using model simulations, we show that the larger seasonal temperature amplitude during the mid Holocene and last interglaical led to marked surficial thaw during warm summers, while cold winters allowed for permafrost persistence at depth and more active thermal contraction cracking. We argue that past interglacial climates have limited suitability as analogues for future permafrost dynamics, for which a trajectory of unprecedented thaw magnitude since at least 400000 years is anticipated.
Alexandru Onaca, Flavius Sirbu, Valentin Poncos, Christin Hilbich, Tazio Strozzi, Petru Urdea, Răzvan Popescu, Oana Berzescu, Bernd Etzelmüller, Alfred Vespremeanu-Stroe, Mirela Vasile, Delia Teleagă, Dan Birtaș, Iosif Lopătiță, Simon Filhol, Alexandru Hegyi, and Florina Ardelean
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3262, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3262, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study establishes a methodology for the study of slow-moving rock glaciers in marginal permafrost and provides the basic knowledge for understanding rock glaciers in south east Europe. By using a combination of different methods (remote sensing, geophysical survey, thermal measurements), we found out that, on the transitional rock glaciers, low ground ice content (i.e. below 20 %) produces horizontal displacements of up to 3 cm per year.
Lotte Wendt, Line Rouyet, Hanne H. Christiansen, Tom Rune Lauknes, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2972, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2972, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In permafrost environments, the ground surface moves due to the formation and melt of ice in the ground. This study compares ground surface displacements measured from satellite images against field data of ground ice contents. We find good agreement between the detected seasonal subsidence and observed ground ice melt. Our results show the potential of satellite remote sensing for mapping ground ice variability, but also indicate that ice in excess of the pore space must be considered.
Robin Benjamin Zweigel, Avirmed Dashtseren, Khurelbaatar Temuujin, Anarmaa Sharkhuu, Clare Webster, Hanna Lee, and Sebastian Westermann
Biogeosciences, 21, 5059–5077, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5059-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-5059-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Intense grazing at grassland sites removes vegetation, reduces the snow cover, and inhibits litter layers from forming. Grazed sites generally have a larger annual ground surface temperature amplitude than ungrazed sites, but the net effect depends on effects in the transitional seasons. Our results also suggest that seasonal use of pastures can reduce ground temperatures, which can be a strategy to protect currently degrading grassland permafrost.
Sigrid Trier Kjær, Sebastian Westermann, Nora Nedkvitne, and Peter Dörsch
Biogeosciences, 21, 4723–4737, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4723-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-21-4723-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost peatlands are thawing due to climate change, releasing large quantities of carbon that degrades upon thawing and is released as CO2, CH4 or dissolved organic carbon (DOC). We incubated thawed Norwegian permafrost peat plateaus and thermokarst pond sediment found next to permafrost for up to 350 d to measure carbon loss. CO2 production was initially the highest, whereas CH4 production increased over time. The largest carbon loss was measured at the top of the peat plateau core as DOC.
Tamara Mathys, Muslim Azimshoev, Zhoodarbeshim Bektursunov, Christian Hauck, Christin Hilbich, Murataly Duishonakunov, Abdulhamid Kayumov, Nikolay Kassatkin, Vassily Kapitsa, Leo C. P. Martin, Coline Mollaret, Hofiz Navruzshoev, Eric Pohl, Tomas Saks, Intizor Silmonov, Timur Musaev, Ryskul Usubaliev, and Martin Hoelzle
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2795, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2795, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a comprehensive geophysical dataset on permafrost in the data-scarce Tien Shan and Pamir mountain regions of Central Asia. It also introduces a novel modeling method to quantify ground ice content across different landforms. The findings indicate that this approach is well-suited for characterizing ice-rich permafrost, which is crucial for evaluating future water availability and assessing risks associated with thawing permafrost.
Juditha Aga, Livia Piermattei, Luc Girod, Kristoffer Aalstad, Trond Eiken, Andreas Kääb, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1049–1070, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1049-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Coastal rock cliffs on Svalbard are considered to be fairly stable; however, long-term trends in coastal-retreat rates remain unknown. This study examines changes in the coastline position along Brøggerhalvøya, Svalbard, using aerial images from 1970, 1990, 2010, and 2021. Our analysis shows that coastal-retreat rates accelerate during the period 2010–2021, which coincides with increasing storminess and retreating sea ice.
Soraya Kaiser, Julia Boike, Guido Grosse, and Moritz Langer
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 3719–3753, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3719-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-3719-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic warming, leading to permafrost degradation, poses primary threats to infrastructure and secondary ecological hazards from possible infrastructure failure. Our study created a comprehensive Alaska inventory combining various data sources with which we improved infrastructure classification and data on contaminated sites. This resource is presented as a GeoPackage allowing planning of infrastructure damage and possible implications for Arctic communities facing permafrost challenges.
Thomas J. Barnes, Thomas V. Schuler, Simon Filhol, and Karianne S. Lilleøren
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 801–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-801-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we use machine learning to automatically outline landforms based on their characteristics. We test several methods to identify the most accurate and then proceed to develop the most accurate to improve its accuracy further. We manage to outline landforms with 65 %–75 % accuracy, at a resolution of 10 m, thanks to high-quality/high-resolution elevation data. We find that it is possible to run this method at a country scale to quickly produce landform inventories for future studies.
Daniel Kwakye, Sabrina Marx, Benjamin Herfort, Moritz Langer, and Sven Lautenbach
AGILE GIScience Ser., 5, 34, https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-5-34-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/agile-giss-5-34-2024, 2024
Moritz Langer, Jan Nitzbon, Brian Groenke, Lisa-Marie Assmann, Thomas Schneider von Deimling, Simone Maria Stuenzi, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 18, 363–385, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-363-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-363-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using a model that can simulate the evolution of Arctic permafrost over centuries to millennia, we find that post-industrialization permafrost warming has three "hotspots" in NE Canada, N Alaska, and W Siberia. The extent of near-surface permafrost has decreased substantially since 1850, with the largest area losses occurring in the last 50 years. The simulations also show that volcanic eruptions have in some cases counteracted the loss of near-surface permafrost for a few decades.
Bernd Etzelmüller, Ketil Isaksen, Justyna Czekirda, Sebastian Westermann, Christin Hilbich, and Christian Hauck
The Cryosphere, 17, 5477–5497, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5477-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5477-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Permafrost (permanently frozen ground) is widespread in the mountains of Norway and Iceland. Several boreholes were drilled after 1999 for long-term permafrost monitoring. We document a strong warming of permafrost, including the development of unfrozen bodies in the permafrost. Warming and degradation of mountain permafrost may lead to more natural hazards.
Esteban Alonso-González, Kristoffer Aalstad, Norbert Pirk, Marco Mazzolini, Désirée Treichler, Paul Leclercq, Sebastian Westermann, Juan Ignacio López-Moreno, and Simon Gascoin
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 4637–4659, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4637-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4637-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Here we explore how to improve hyper-resolution (5 m) distributed snowpack simulations using sparse observations, which do not provide information from all the areas of the simulation domain. We propose a new way of propagating information throughout the simulations adapted to the hyper-resolution, which could also be used to improve simulations of other nature. The method has been implemented in an open-source data assimilation tool that is readily accessible to everyone.
Anatoly O. Sinitsyn, Sara Bazin, Rasmus Benestad, Bernd Etzelmüller, Ketil Isaksen, Hanne Kvitsand, Julia Lutz, Andrea L. Popp, Lena Rubensdotter, and Sebastian Westermann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2950, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2950, 2023
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
This study looked at under the ground on Svalbard, an archipelago close to the North Pole. We found something very surprising – there is water under the all year around frozen soil. This was not known before. This water could be used for drinking if we manage it carefully. This is important because getting clean drinking water is very difficult in Svalbard, and other Arctic places. Also, because the climate is getting warmer, there might be even more water underground in the future.
Léo C. P. Martin, Sebastian Westermann, Michele Magni, Fanny Brun, Joel Fiddes, Yanbin Lei, Philip Kraaijenbrink, Tamara Mathys, Moritz Langer, Simon Allen, and Walter W. Immerzeel
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 4409–4436, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4409-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Across the Tibetan Plateau, many large lakes have been changing level during the last decades as a response to climate change. In high-mountain environments, water fluxes from the land to the lakes are linked to the ground temperature of the land and to the energy fluxes between the ground and the atmosphere, which are modified by climate change. With a numerical model, we test how these water and energy fluxes have changed over the last decades and how they influence the lake level variations.
Juditha Aga, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 17, 4179–4206, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4179-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4179-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a new model scheme for simulating ice segregation and thaw consolidation in permafrost environments, depending on ground properties and climatic forcing. It is embedded in the CryoGrid community model, a land surface model for the terrestrial cryosphere. We describe the model physics and functionalities, followed by a model validation and a sensitivity study of controlling factors.
Matan Ben-Asher, Florence Magnin, Sebastian Westermann, Josué Bock, Emmanuel Malet, Johan Berthet, Ludovic Ravanel, and Philip Deline
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 899–915, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-899-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-899-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Quantitative knowledge of water availability on high mountain rock slopes is very limited. We use a numerical model and field measurements to estimate the water balance at a steep rock wall site. We show that snowmelt is the main source of water at elevations >3600 m and that snowpack hydrology and sublimation are key factors. The new information presented here can be used to improve the understanding of thermal, hydrogeological, and mechanical processes on steep mountain rock slopes.
Brian Groenke, Moritz Langer, Jan Nitzbon, Sebastian Westermann, Guillermo Gallego, and Julia Boike
The Cryosphere, 17, 3505–3533, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3505-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-3505-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
It is now well known from long-term temperature measurements that Arctic permafrost, i.e., ground that remains continuously frozen for at least 2 years, is warming in response to climate change. Temperature, however, only tells half of the story. In this study, we use computer modeling to better understand how the thawing and freezing of water in the ground affects the way permafrost responds to climate change and what temperature trends can and cannot tell us about how permafrost is changing.
Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Erin Emily Thomas, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 17, 2941–2963, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2941-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2941-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Here, we present high-resolution simulations of glacier mass balance (the gain and loss of ice over a year) and runoff on Svalbard from 1991–2022, one of the fastest warming regions in the Arctic. The simulations are created using the CryoGrid community model. We find a small overall loss of mass over the simulation period of −0.08 m yr−1 but with no statistically significant trend. The average runoff was found to be 41 Gt yr−1, with a significant increasing trend of 6.3 Gt per decade.
Zoé Rehder, Thomas Kleinen, Lars Kutzbach, Victor Stepanenko, Moritz Langer, and Victor Brovkin
Biogeosciences, 20, 2837–2855, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2837-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use a new model to investigate how methane emissions from Arctic ponds change with warming. We find that emissions increase substantially. Under annual temperatures 5 °C above present temperatures, pond methane emissions are more than 3 times higher than now. Most of this increase is caused by an increase in plant productivity as plants provide the substrate microbes used to produce methane. We conclude that vegetation changes need to be included in predictions of pond methane emissions.
Justyna Czekirda, Bernd Etzelmüller, Sebastian Westermann, Ketil Isaksen, and Florence Magnin
The Cryosphere, 17, 2725–2754, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2725-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-2725-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We assess spatio-temporal permafrost variations in selected rock walls in Norway over the last 120 years. Ground temperature is modelled using the two-dimensional ground heat flux model CryoGrid 2D along nine profiles. Permafrost probably occurs at most sites. All simulations show increasing ground temperature from the 1980s. Our simulations show that rock wall permafrost with a temperature of −1 °C at 20 m depth could thaw at this depth within 50 years.
Norbert Pirk, Kristoffer Aalstad, Yeliz A. Yilmaz, Astrid Vatne, Andrea L. Popp, Peter Horvath, Anders Bryn, Ane Victoria Vollsnes, Sebastian Westermann, Terje Koren Berntsen, Frode Stordal, and Lena Merete Tallaksen
Biogeosciences, 20, 2031–2047, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2031-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-20-2031-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We measured the land–atmosphere exchange of CO2 and water vapor in alpine Norway over 3 years. The extremely snow-rich conditions in 2020 reduced the total annual evapotranspiration to 50 % and reduced the growing-season carbon assimilation to turn the ecosystem from a moderate annual carbon sink to an even stronger source. Our analysis suggests that snow cover anomalies are driving the most consequential short-term responses in this ecosystem’s functioning.
Francisco José Cuesta-Valero, Hugo Beltrami, Almudena García-García, Gerhard Krinner, Moritz Langer, Andrew H. MacDougall, Jan Nitzbon, Jian Peng, Karina von Schuckmann, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Wim Thiery, Inne Vanderkelen, and Tonghua Wu
Earth Syst. Dynam., 14, 609–627, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-609-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-14-609-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change is caused by the accumulated heat in the Earth system, with the land storing the second largest amount of this extra heat. Here, new estimates of continental heat storage are obtained, including changes in inland-water heat storage and permafrost heat storage in addition to changes in ground heat storage. We also argue that heat gains in all three components should be monitored independently of their magnitude due to heat-dependent processes affecting society and ecosystems.
Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Johanna Scheer, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Nitin Chaudhary, Bernd Etzelmüller, Simon Filhol, Andreas Kääb, Cas Renette, Louise Steffensen Schmidt, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Robin B. Zweigel, Léo Martin, Sarah Morard, Matan Ben-Asher, Michael Angelopoulos, Julia Boike, Brian Groenke, Frederieke Miesner, Jan Nitzbon, Paul Overduin, Simone M. Stuenzi, and Moritz Langer
Geosci. Model Dev., 16, 2607–2647, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-16-2607-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The CryoGrid community model is a new tool for simulating ground temperatures and the water and ice balance in cold regions. It is a modular design, which makes it possible to test different schemes to simulate, for example, permafrost ground in an efficient way. The model contains tools to simulate frozen and unfrozen ground, snow, glaciers, and other massive ice bodies, as well as water bodies.
Karina von Schuckmann, Audrey Minière, Flora Gues, Francisco José Cuesta-Valero, Gottfried Kirchengast, Susheel Adusumilli, Fiammetta Straneo, Michaël Ablain, Richard P. Allan, Paul M. Barker, Hugo Beltrami, Alejandro Blazquez, Tim Boyer, Lijing Cheng, John Church, Damien Desbruyeres, Han Dolman, Catia M. Domingues, Almudena García-García, Donata Giglio, John E. Gilson, Maximilian Gorfer, Leopold Haimberger, Maria Z. Hakuba, Stefan Hendricks, Shigeki Hosoda, Gregory C. Johnson, Rachel Killick, Brian King, Nicolas Kolodziejczyk, Anton Korosov, Gerhard Krinner, Mikael Kuusela, Felix W. Landerer, Moritz Langer, Thomas Lavergne, Isobel Lawrence, Yuehua Li, John Lyman, Florence Marti, Ben Marzeion, Michael Mayer, Andrew H. MacDougall, Trevor McDougall, Didier Paolo Monselesan, Jan Nitzbon, Inès Otosaka, Jian Peng, Sarah Purkey, Dean Roemmich, Kanako Sato, Katsunari Sato, Abhishek Savita, Axel Schweiger, Andrew Shepherd, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Leon Simons, Donald A. Slater, Thomas Slater, Andrea K. Steiner, Toshio Suga, Tanguy Szekely, Wim Thiery, Mary-Louise Timmermans, Inne Vanderkelen, Susan E. Wjiffels, Tonghua Wu, and Michael Zemp
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1675–1709, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1675-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Earth's climate is out of energy balance, and this study quantifies how much heat has consequently accumulated over the past decades (ocean: 89 %, land: 6 %, cryosphere: 4 %, atmosphere: 1 %). Since 1971, this accumulated heat reached record values at an increasing pace. The Earth heat inventory provides a comprehensive view on the status and expectation of global warming, and we call for an implementation of this global climate indicator into the Paris Agreement’s Global Stocktake.
Ngai-Ham Chan, Moritz Langer, Bennet Juhls, Tabea Rettelbach, Paul Overduin, Kimberly Huppert, and Jean Braun
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 259–285, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-259-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-259-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Arctic river deltas influence how nutrients and soil organic carbon, carried by sediments from the Arctic landscape, are retained or released into the Arctic Ocean. Under climate change, the deltas themselves and their ecosystems are becoming more vulnerable. We build upon previous models to reproduce for the first time an important feature ubiquitous to Arctic deltas and simulate its future under climate warming. This can impact the future of Arctic deltas and the carbon release they moderate.
Cas Renette, Kristoffer Aalstad, Juditha Aga, Robin Benjamin Zweigel, Bernd Etzelmüller, Karianne Staalesen Lilleøren, Ketil Isaksen, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 11, 33–50, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-33-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
One of the reasons for lower ground temperatures in coarse, blocky terrain is a low or varying soil moisture content, which most permafrost modelling studies did not take into account. We used the CryoGrid community model to successfully simulate this effect and found markedly lower temperatures in well-drained, blocky deposits compared to other set-ups. The inclusion of this drainage effect is another step towards a better model representation of blocky mountain terrain in permafrost regions.
Norbert Pirk, Kristoffer Aalstad, Sebastian Westermann, Astrid Vatne, Alouette van Hove, Lena Merete Tallaksen, Massimo Cassiani, and Gabriel Katul
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 7293–7314, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7293-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7293-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we show how sparse and noisy drone measurements can be combined with an ensemble of turbulence-resolving wind simulations to estimate uncertainty-aware surface energy exchange. We demonstrate the feasibility of this drone data assimilation framework in a series of synthetic and real-world experiments. This new framework can, in future, be applied to estimate energy and gas exchange in heterogeneous landscapes more representatively than conventional methods.
Marius S. A. Lambert, Hui Tang, Kjetil S. Aas, Frode Stordal, Rosie A. Fisher, Yilin Fang, Junyan Ding, and Frans-Jan W. Parmentier
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 8809–8829, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8809-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8809-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we implement a hardening mortality scheme into CTSM5.0-FATES-Hydro and evaluate how it impacts plant hydraulics and vegetation growth. Our work shows that the hydraulic modifications prescribed by the hardening scheme are necessary to model realistic vegetation growth in cold climates, in contrast to the default model that simulates almost nonexistent and declining vegetation due to abnormally large water loss through the roots.
Karianne S. Lilleøren, Bernd Etzelmüller, Line Rouyet, Trond Eiken, Gaute Slinde, and Christin Hilbich
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 975–996, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-975-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-975-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In northern Norway we have observed several rock glaciers at sea level. Rock glaciers are landforms that only form under the influence of permafrost, which is frozen ground. Our investigations show that the rock glaciers are probably not active under the current climate but most likely were active in the recent past. This shows how the Arctic now changes due to climate changes and also how similar areas in currently colder climates will change in the future.
Juri Palmtag, Jaroslav Obu, Peter Kuhry, Andreas Richter, Matthias B. Siewert, Niels Weiss, Sebastian Westermann, and Gustaf Hugelius
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4095–4110, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4095-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4095-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The northern permafrost region covers 22 % of the Northern Hemisphere and holds almost twice as much carbon as the atmosphere. This paper presents data from 651 soil pedons encompassing more than 6500 samples from 16 different study areas across the northern permafrost region. We use this dataset together with ESA's global land cover dataset to estimate soil organic carbon and total nitrogen storage up to 300 cm soil depth, with estimated values of 813 Pg for carbon and 55 Pg for nitrogen.
Jan Nitzbon, Damir Gadylyaev, Steffen Schlüter, John Maximilian Köhne, Guido Grosse, and Julia Boike
The Cryosphere, 16, 3507–3515, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3507-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-3507-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The microstructure of permafrost soils contains clues to its formation and its preconditioning to future change. We used X-ray computed tomography (CT) to measure the composition of a permafrost drill core from Siberia. By combining CT with laboratory measurements, we determined the the proportions of pore ice, excess ice, minerals, organic matter, and gas contained in the core at an unprecedented resolution. Our work demonstrates the potential of CT to study permafrost properties and processes.
Aldo Bertone, Chloé Barboux, Xavier Bodin, Tobias Bolch, Francesco Brardinoni, Rafael Caduff, Hanne H. Christiansen, Margaret M. Darrow, Reynald Delaloye, Bernd Etzelmüller, Ole Humlum, Christophe Lambiel, Karianne S. Lilleøren, Volkmar Mair, Gabriel Pellegrinon, Line Rouyet, Lucas Ruiz, and Tazio Strozzi
The Cryosphere, 16, 2769–2792, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2769-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2769-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present the guidelines developed by the IPA Action Group and within the ESA Permafrost CCI project to include InSAR-based kinematic information in rock glacier inventories. Nine operators applied these guidelines to 11 regions worldwide; more than 3600 rock glaciers are classified according to their kinematics. We test and demonstrate the feasibility of applying common rules to produce homogeneous kinematic inventories at global scale, useful for hydrological and climate change purposes.
Noah D. Smith, Eleanor J. Burke, Kjetil Schanke Aas, Inge H. J. Althuizen, Julia Boike, Casper Tai Christiansen, Bernd Etzelmüller, Thomas Friborg, Hanna Lee, Heather Rumbold, Rachael H. Turton, Sebastian Westermann, and Sarah E. Chadburn
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 3603–3639, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3603-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-3603-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Arctic has large areas of small mounds that are caused by ice lifting up the soil. Snow blown by wind gathers in hollows next to these mounds, insulating them in winter. The hollows tend to be wetter, and thus the soil absorbs more heat in summer. The warm wet soil in the hollows decomposes, releasing methane. We have made a model of this, and we have tested how it behaves and whether it looks like sites in Scandinavia and Siberia. Sometimes we get more methane than a model without mounds.
Stefan Kruse, Simone M. Stuenzi, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, Josias Gloy, and Ulrike Herzschuh
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 2395–2422, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2395-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We coupled established models for boreal forest (LAVESI) and permafrost dynamics (CryoGrid) in Siberia to investigate interactions of the diverse vegetation layer with permafrost soils. Our tests showed improved active layer depth estimations and newly included species growth according to their species-specific limits. We conclude that the new model system can be applied to simulate boreal forest dynamics and transitions under global warming and disturbances, expanding our knowledge.
Sarah E. Chadburn, Eleanor J. Burke, Angela V. Gallego-Sala, Noah D. Smith, M. Syndonia Bret-Harte, Dan J. Charman, Julia Drewer, Colin W. Edgar, Eugenie S. Euskirchen, Krzysztof Fortuniak, Yao Gao, Mahdi Nakhavali, Włodzimierz Pawlak, Edward A. G. Schuur, and Sebastian Westermann
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 1633–1657, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1633-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1633-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to include peatlands in an Earth system model (ESM). Peatlands store huge amounts of carbon that accumulates very slowly but that can be rapidly destabilised, emitting greenhouse gases. Our model captures the dynamic nature of peat by simulating the change in surface height and physical properties of the soil as carbon is added or decomposed. Thus, we model, for the first time in an ESM, peat dynamics and its threshold behaviours that can lead to destabilisation.
Bernd Etzelmüller, Justyna Czekirda, Florence Magnin, Pierre-Allain Duvillard, Ludovic Ravanel, Emanuelle Malet, Andreas Aspaas, Lene Kristensen, Ingrid Skrede, Gudrun D. Majala, Benjamin Jacobs, Johannes Leinauer, Christian Hauck, Christin Hilbich, Martina Böhme, Reginald Hermanns, Harald Ø. Eriksen, Tom Rune Lauknes, Michael Krautblatter, and Sebastian Westermann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 10, 97–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-97-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-97-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper is a multi-authored study documenting the possible existence of permafrost in permanently monitored rockslides in Norway for the first time by combining a multitude of field data, including geophysical surveys in rock walls. The paper discusses the possible role of thermal regime and rockslide movement, and it evaluates the possible impact of atmospheric warming on rockslide dynamics in Norwegian mountains.
Thorben Dunse, Kaixing Dong, Kjetil Schanke Aas, and Leif Christian Stige
Biogeosciences, 19, 271–294, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-271-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the effect of glacier meltwater on phytoplankton dynamics in Svalbard. Phytoplankton forms the basis of the marine food web, and its seasonal dynamics depend on the availability of light and nutrients, both of which are affected by glacier runoff. We use satellite ocean color, an indicator of phytoplankton biomass, and glacier mass balance modeling to find that the overall effect of glacier runoff on marine productivity is positive within the major fjord systems of Svalbard.
Greg E. Bodeker, Jan Nitzbon, Jordis S. Tradowsky, Stefanie Kremser, Alexander Schwertheim, and Jared Lewis
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 3885–3906, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3885-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-3885-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone in Earth's atmosphere has undergone significant changes since first measured systematically from space in the late 1970s. The purpose of the paper is to present a new, spatially filled, global total column ozone climate data record spanning from October 1978 to December 2016. The database is compiled from measurements from 17 different satellite-based instruments where offsets and drifts between the instruments have been corrected using ground-based measurements.
Juditha Undine Schmidt, Bernd Etzelmüller, Thomas Vikhamar Schuler, Florence Magnin, Julia Boike, Moritz Langer, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 15, 2491–2509, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2491-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2491-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents rock surface temperatures (RSTs) of steep high-Arctic rock walls on Svalbard from 2016 to 2020. The field data show that coastal cliffs are characterized by warmer RSTs than inland locations during winter seasons. By running model simulations, we analyze factors leading to that effect, calculate the surface energy balance and simulate different future scenarios. Both field data and model results can contribute to a further understanding of RST in high-Arctic rock walls.
Thomas Schneider von Deimling, Hanna Lee, Thomas Ingeman-Nielsen, Sebastian Westermann, Vladimir Romanovsky, Scott Lamoureux, Donald A. Walker, Sarah Chadburn, Erin Trochim, Lei Cai, Jan Nitzbon, Stephan Jacobi, and Moritz Langer
The Cryosphere, 15, 2451–2471, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2451-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2451-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Climate warming puts infrastructure built on permafrost at risk of failure. There is a growing need for appropriate model-based risk assessments. Here we present a modelling study and show an exemplary case of how a gravel road in a cold permafrost environment in Alaska might suffer from degrading permafrost under a scenario of intense climate warming. We use this case study to discuss the broader-scale applicability of our model for simulating future Arctic infrastructure failure.
Rebecca Rolph, Pier Paul Overduin, Thomas Ravens, Hugues Lantuit, and Moritz Langer
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-28, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2021-28, 2021
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Declining sea ice, larger waves, and increasing air temperatures are contributing to a rapidly eroding Arctic coastline. We simulate water levels using wind speed and direction, which are used with wave height, wave period, and sea surface temperature to drive an erosion model of a partially frozen cliff and beach. This provides a first step to include Arctic erosion in larger-scale earth system models. Simulated cumulative retreat rates agree within the same order of magnitude as observations.
Jan Nitzbon, Moritz Langer, Léo C. P. Martin, Sebastian Westermann, Thomas Schneider von Deimling, and Julia Boike
The Cryosphere, 15, 1399–1422, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1399-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1399-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We used a numerical model to investigate how small-scale landscape heterogeneities affect permafrost thaw under climate-warming scenarios. Our results show that representing small-scale heterogeneities in the model can decide whether a landscape is water-logged or well-drained in the future. This in turn affects how fast permafrost thaws under warming. Our research emphasizes the importance of considering small-scale processes in model assessments of permafrost thaw under climate change.
Simone Maria Stuenzi, Julia Boike, William Cable, Ulrike Herzschuh, Stefan Kruse, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Thomas Schneider von Deimling, Sebastian Westermann, Evgenii S. Zakharov, and Moritz Langer
Biogeosciences, 18, 343–365, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-343-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-18-343-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Boreal forests in eastern Siberia are an essential component of global climate patterns. We use a physically based model and field measurements to study the interactions between forests, permanently frozen ground and the atmosphere. We find that forests exert a strong control on the thermal state of permafrost through changing snow cover dynamics and altering the surface energy balance, through absorbing most of the incoming solar radiation and suppressing below-canopy turbulent fluxes.
Lei Cai, Hanna Lee, Kjetil Schanke Aas, and Sebastian Westermann
The Cryosphere, 14, 4611–4626, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4611-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4611-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A sub-grid representation of excess ground ice in the Community Land Model (CLM) is developed as novel progress in modeling permafrost thaw and its impacts under the warming climate. The modeled permafrost degradation with sub-grid excess ice follows the pathway that continuous permafrost transforms into discontinuous permafrost before it disappears, including surface subsidence and talik formation, which are highly permafrost-relevant landscape changes excluded from most land models.
Øyvind Seland, Mats Bentsen, Dirk Olivié, Thomas Toniazzo, Ada Gjermundsen, Lise Seland Graff, Jens Boldingh Debernard, Alok Kumar Gupta, Yan-Chun He, Alf Kirkevåg, Jörg Schwinger, Jerry Tjiputra, Kjetil Schanke Aas, Ingo Bethke, Yuanchao Fan, Jan Griesfeller, Alf Grini, Chuncheng Guo, Mehmet Ilicak, Inger Helene Hafsahl Karset, Oskar Landgren, Johan Liakka, Kine Onsum Moseid, Aleksi Nummelin, Clemens Spensberger, Hui Tang, Zhongshi Zhang, Christoph Heinze, Trond Iversen, and Michael Schulz
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 6165–6200, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-6165-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-6165-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The second version of the coupled Norwegian Earth System Model (NorESM2) is presented and evaluated. The temperature and precipitation patterns has improved compared to NorESM1. The model reaches present-day warming levels to within 0.2 °C of observed temperature but with a delayed warming during the late 20th century. Under the four scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5), the warming in the period of 2090–2099 compared to 1850–1879 reaches 1.3, 2.2, 3.1, and 3.9 K.
Cited articles
Aalto, J., Venäläinen, A., Heikkinen, R. K., and Luoto, M.: Potential
for extreme loss in high-latitude Earth surface processes due to climate
change, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 3914–3924, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL060095,
2014.
Aalto, J., Harrison, S., and Luoto, M.: Statistical modelling predicts almost
complete loss of major periglacial processes in Northern Europe by, Nat.
Commun., 8, 515, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00669-3, 2017.
Aas, K. S., Dunse, T., Collier, E., Schuler, T. V., Berntsen, T. K., Kohler, J., and Luks, B.: The climatic mass balance of Svalbard glaciers: a 10-year simulation with a coupled atmosphere–glacier mass balance model, The Cryosphere, 10, 1089–1104, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1089-2016, 2016.
Aas, K. S., Martin, L., Nitzbon, J., Langer, M., Boike, J., Lee, H., Berntsen, T. K., and Westermann, S.: Thaw processes in ice-rich permafrost landscapes represented with laterally coupled tiles in a land surface model, The Cryosphere, 13, 591–609, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-591-2019, 2019.
Andresen, C. G., Lawrence, D. M., Wilson, C. J., McGuire, A. D., Koven, C., Schaefer, K., Jafarov, E., Peng, S., Chen, X., Gouttevin, I., Burke, E., Chadburn, S., Ji, D., Chen, G., Hayes, D., and Zhang, W.: Soil moisture and hydrology projections of the permafrost region – a model intercomparison, The Cryosphere, 14, 445–459, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-445-2020, 2020.
Bartelt, P. and Lehning, M.: A physical SNOWPACK model for the Swiss
avalanche warning, Cold Reg. Sci. Technol., 35, 123–145,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-232X(02)00074-5, 2002.
Beck, I., Ludwig, R., Bernier, M., Strozzi, T., and Boike, J.: Vertical movements of frost mounds in subarctic permafrost regions analyzed using geodetic survey and satellite interferometry, Earth Surf. Dynam., 3, 409–421, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-409-2015, 2015.
Bintanja, R. and Andry, O.: Towards a rain-dominated Arctic, Nat. Clim.
Chang., 7, 263–267, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3240, 2017.
Biskaborn, B. K., Smith, S. L., Noetzli, J., Matthes, H., Vieira, G.,
Streletskiy, D. A., Schoeneich, P., Romanovsky, V. E., Lewkowicz, A. G.,
Abramov, A., Allard, M., Boike, J., Cable, W. L., Christiansen, H. H.,
Delaloye, R., Diekmann, B., Drozdov, D., Etzelmüller, B., Grosse, G.,
Guglielmin, M., Ingeman-Nielsen, T., Isaksen, K., Ishikawa, M., Johansson,
M., Johannsson, H., Joo, A., Kaverin, D., Kholodov, A., Konstantinov, P.,
Kröger, T., Lambiel, C., Lanckman, J.-P., Luo, D., Malkova, G.,
Meiklejohn, I., Moskalenko, N., Oliva, M., Phillips, M., Ramos, M., Sannel,
A. B. K., Sergeev, D., Seybold, C., Skryabin, P., Vasiliev, A., Wu, Q.,
Yoshikawa, K., Zheleznyak, M., and Lantuit, H.: Permafrost is warming at a
global scale, Nat. Commun., 10, 264, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-08240-4,
2019.
Bockheim, J. G. and Hinkel, K. M.: Accumulation of Excess Ground Ice in an
Age Sequence of Drained Thermokarst Lake Basins, Arctic Alaska, Permafr.
Periglac. Process., 23, 231–236, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1745, 2012.
Borge, A. F., Westermann, S., Solheim, I., and Etzelmüller, B.: Strong degradation of palsas and peat plateaus in northern Norway during the last 60 years, The Cryosphere, 11, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1-2017, 2017.
Burke, E. J., Zhang, Y., and Krinner, G.: Evaluating permafrost physics in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) models and their sensitivity to climate change, The Cryosphere, 14, 3155–3174, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-3155-2020, 2020.
Chadburn, S. E., Burke, E. J., Cox, P. M., Friedlingstein, P., Hugelius, G.
and Westermann, S.: An observation-based constraint on permafrost loss as a
function of global warming, Nat. Clim. Chang., 7, 340–344,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate3262, 2017.
Colbeck, S. C.: An overview of seasonal snow metamorphism, Rev. Geophys.,
20, 45–61, https://doi.org/10.1029/RG020i001p00045, 1982.
Domine, F., Barrere, M., and Sarrazin, D.: Seasonal evolution of the effective thermal conductivity of the snow and the soil in high Arctic herb tundra at Bylot Island, Canada, The Cryosphere, 10, 2573–2588, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2573-2016, 2016.
Farquharson, L. M., Romanovsky, V. E., Cable, W. L., Walker, D. A., Kokelj,
S. V., and Nicolsky, D.: Climate Change Drives Widespread and Rapid
Thermokarst Development in Very Cold Permafrost in the Canadian High Arctic,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 46, 6681–6689, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL082187, 2019.
Forlani, G., Dall'Asta, E., Diotri, F., di Cella, U. M., Roncella, R., and
Santise, M.: Quality Assessment of DSMs Produced from UAV Flights
Georeferenced with On-Board RTK Positioning, Remote Sens., 10, 311,
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs10020311, 2018.
French, H. M.: The periglacial environment, 4th edn., John Wiley &
Sons Ltd., Chichester, England, ISBN: 978-1-119-13278-3
2018.
Fronzek, S., Carter, T. R., Räisänen, J., Ruokolainen, L., and Luoto,
M.: Applying probabilistic projections of climate change with impact models:
a case study for sub-arctic palsa mires in Fennoscandia, Clim. Change,
99, 515–534, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-009-9679-y, 2010.
Gisnås, K., Westermann, S., Schuler, T. V., Litherland, T., Isaksen, K., Boike, J., and Etzelmüller, B.: A statistical approach to represent small-scale variability of permafrost temperatures due to snow cover, The Cryosphere, 8, 2063–2074, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-8-2063-2014, 2014.
Göckede, M., Kittler, F., Kwon, M. J., Burjack, I., Heimann, M., Kolle, O., Zimov, N., and Zimov, S.: Shifted energy fluxes, increased Bowen ratios, and reduced thaw depths linked with drainage-induced changes in permafrost ecosystem structure, The Cryosphere, 11, 2975–2996, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2975-2017, 2017.
Göckede, M., Kwon, M. J., Kittler, F., Heimann, M., Zimov, N., and Zimov,
S.: Negative feedback processes following drainage slow down permafrost
degradation, Glob. Chang. Biol., 25, 3254–3266, https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14744,
2019.
Hinkel, K. M. and Hurd, J. K.: Permafrost destabilization and thermokarst
following snow fence installation, Barrow, Alaska, USA, Arctic, Antarct.
Alp. Res., 38, 530–539,
https://doi.org/10.1657/1523-0430(2006)38[530:PDATFS]2.0.CO;2, 2006.
Jaud, M., Passot, S., Le Bivic, R., Delacourt, C., Grandjean, P., and Le
Dantec, N.: Assessing the Accuracy of High Resolution Digital Surface Models
Computed by PhotoScan® and MicMac® in
Sub-Optimal Survey Conditions, Remote Sens., 8, 465,
https://doi.org/10.3390/rs8060465, 2016.
Jones, B. M., Baughman, C. A., Romanovsky, V. E., Parsekian, A. D., Babcock, E. L., Stephani, E., Jones, M. C., Grosse, G., and Berg, E. E.: Presence of rapidly degrading permafrost plateaus in south-central Alaska, The Cryosphere, 10, 2673–2692, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-2673-2016, 2016.
Kokelj, S. V. and Burn, C. R.: Ground ice and soluble cations in
near-surface permafrost, Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada, Permafr.
Periglac. Process., 14, 275–289, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.458, 2003.
Koven, C. D., Schuur, E. A. G., Schädel, C., Bohn, T. J., Burke, E. J.,
Chen, G., Chen, X., Ciais, P., Grosse, G., Harden, J. W., Hayes, D. J.,
Hugelius, G., Jafarov, E. E., Krinner, G., Kuhry, P., Lawrence, D. M.,
MacDougall, A. H., Marchenko, S. S., McGuire, A. D., Natali, S. M.,
Nicolsky, D. J., Olefeldt, D., Peng, S., Romanovsky, V. E., Schaefer, K. M.,
Strauss, J., Treat, C. C., and Turetsky, M.: A simplified, data-constrained
approach to estimate the permafrost carbon–climate feedback, Philos. T. Roy. Soc. A, 373, 20140423,
https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2014.0423, 2015.
Lacelle, D., Davila, A. F., Fisher, D., Pollard, W. H., DeWitt, R.,
Heldmann, J., Marinova, M. M., and McKay, C. P.: Excess ground ice of
condensation–diffusion origin in University Valley, Dry Valleys of
Antarctica: Evidence from isotope geochemistry and numerical modeling,
Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 120, 280–297, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2013.06.032,
2013.
Langer, M., Westermann, S., Walter Anthony, K., Wischnewski, K., and Boike, J.: Frozen ponds: production and storage of methane during the Arctic winter in a lowland tundra landscape in northern Siberia, Lena River delta, Biogeosciences, 12, 977–990, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-977-2015, 2015.
Langer, M., Westermann, S., Boike, J., Kirillin, G., Grosse, G., Peng, S.,
and Krinner, G.: Rapid degradation of permafrost underneath waterbodies in
tundra landscapes-Toward a representation of thermokarst in land surface
models, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth Surf., 121, 2446–2470,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF003956, 2016.
Liljedahl, A. K., Boike, J., Daanen, R. P., Fedorov, A. N., Frost, G. V.,
Grosse, G., Hinzman, L. D., Iijma, Y., Jorgenson, J. C., Matveyeva, N.,
Necsoiu, M., Raynolds, M. K., Romanovsky, V. E., Schulla, J., Tape, K. D.,
Walker, D. A., Wilson, C., Yabuki, H., and Zona, D.: Pan-Arctic ice-wedge
degradation in warming permafrost and influence on tundra hydrology, Nat.
Geosci., 9, 312–318, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2674, 2016.
Lindgren, A., Hugelius, G., and Kuhry, P.: Extensive loss of past permafrost
carbon but a net accumulation into present-day soils, Nature, 560,
219–222, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0371-0, 2018.
Luoto, M., Fronzek, S., and Zuidhoff, F. S.: Spatial modelling of palsa mires
in relation to climate in northern Europe, Earth Surf. Process. Land.,
29, 1373–1387, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1099, 2004.
Mamet, S. D., Chun, K. P., Kershaw, G. G. L., Loranty, M. M., and Peter
Kershaw, G.: Recent Increases in Permafrost Thaw Rates and Areal Loss of
Palsas in the Western Northwest Territories, Canada, Permafr. Periglac.
Process., 28, 619–633, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1951, 2017.
Martin, L. C. P., Nitzbon, J., Aas, K. S. S., Etzelmüller, B.,
Kristiansen, H., and Westermann, S.: Stability Conditions of Peat Plateaus
and Palsas in Northern Norway, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth Surf., 124,
705–719, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JF004945, 2019.
Martin, L. C. P., Nitzbon, J., Langer, M., and Westerman, S.: CryoGrid/CryoGrid3: Model setup for representing lateral thermokarst in a peat plateau (Version v1.0.2), Zenodo, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4915955, 2021.
McGuire, A. D., Lawrence, D. M., Koven, C., Clein, J. S., Burke, E., Chen,
G., Jafarov, E., MacDougall, A. H., Marchenko, S., Nicolsky, D., Peng, S.,
Rinke, A., Ciais, P., Gouttevin, I., Hayes, D. J., Ji, D., Krinner, G.,
Moore, J. C., Romanovsky, V., Schädel, C., Schaefer, K., Schuur, E. A.
G. G., and Zhuang, Q.: Dependence of the evolution of carbon dynamics in the
northern permafrost region on the trajectory of climate change, P. Natl.
Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 3882–3887, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1719903115, 2018.
Monin, A. S. and Obukhov, A. M.: Basic laws of turbulent mixing in the
surface layer of the atmosphere, Contrib. Geophys. Inst. Acad. Sci. USSR,
151, 163–187, 1954.
Morgalev, Y. N., Lushchaeva, I. V., Morgaleva, T. G., Kolesnichenko, L. G.,
Loiko, S. V., Krickov, I. V., Lim, A., Raudina, T. V., Volkova, I. I.,
Shirokova, L. S., Morgalev, S. Y., Vorobyev, S. N., Kirpotin, S. N., and
Pokrovsky, O. S.: Bacteria primarily metabolize at the active
layer/permafrost border in the peat core from a permafrost region in western
Siberia, Polar Biol., 40, 1645–1659, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2088-1,
2017.
Morse, P. D., Burn, C. R., and Kokelj, S. V.: Near-surface ground-ice
distribution, Kendall Island Bird Sanctuary, western Arctic coast, Canada,
Permafr. Periglac. Process., 20, 155–171, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.650, 2009.
Motorin, A. S., Bukin, A. V., and Iglovikov, A. V.: Water-physical properties
of drained peat soils of Northern Trans-Ural forest-steppe zone, IOP Conf.
Ser. Earth Environ. Sci., 90, 012053, https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/90/1/012053,
2017.
Natali, S. M., Watts, J. D., Rogers, B. M., Potter, S., Ludwig, S. M.,
Selbmann, A.-K., Sullivan, P. F., Abbott, B. W., Arndt, K. A., Birch, L.,
Björkman, M. P., Bloom, A. A., Celis, G., Christensen, T.
R., Christiansen, C. T., Commane, R., Cooper, E. J., Crill, P., Czimczik,
C., Davydov, S., Du, J., Egan, J. E., Elberling, B., Euskirchen, E. S.,
Friborg, T., Genet, H., Göckede, M., Goodrich, J. P., Grogan, P.,
Helbig, M., Jafarov, E. E., Jastrow, J. D., Kalhori, A. A. M., Kim, Y.,
Kimball, J. S., Kutzbach, L., Lara, M. J., Larsen, K. S., Lee, B.-Y., Liu,
Z., Loranty, M. M., Lund, M., Lupascu, M., Madani, N., Malhotra, A.,
Matamala, R., McFarland, J., McGuire, A. D., Michelsen, A., Minions, C.,
Oechel, W. C., Olefeldt, D., Parmentier, F.-J. W., Pirk, N., Poulter, B.,
Quinton, W., Rezanezhad, F., Risk, D., Sachs, T., Schaefer, K., Schmidt, N.
M., Schuur, E. A. G., Semenchuk, P. R., Shaver, G., Sonnentag, O., Starr,
G., Treat, C. C., Waldrop, M. P., Wang, Y., Welker, J., Wille, C., Xu, X.,
Zhang, Z., Zhuang, Q., and Zona, D.: Large loss of CO2 in winter observed
across the northern permafrost region, Nat. Clim. Chang., 9, 852–857,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0592-8, 2019.
Nitzbon, J., Langer, M., Westermann, S., Martin, L., Aas, K. S., and Boike, J.: Pathways of ice-wedge degradation in polygonal tundra under different hydrological conditions, The Cryosphere, 13, 1089–1123, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1089-2019, 2019.
Nitzbon, J., Westermann, S., Langer, M., Martin, L. C. P., Strauss, J.,
Laboor, S., and Boike, J.: Fast response of cold ice-rich permafrost in
northeast Siberia to a warming climate, Nat. Commun., 11, 2201,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-15725-8, 2020.
Nitzbon, J., Langer, M., Martin, L. C. P., Westermann, S., Schneider von Deimling, T., and Boike, J.: Effects of multi-scale heterogeneity on the simulated evolution of ice-rich permafrost lowlands under a warming climate, The Cryosphere, 15, 1399–1422, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1399-2021, 2021.
Nwaishi, F. C., Morison, M. Q., Van Huizen, B., Khomik, M., Petrone, R. M.,
and Macrae, M. L.: Growing season CO2 exchange and evapotranspiration
dynamics among thawing and intact permafrost landforms in the Western Hudson
Bay lowlands, Permafr. Periglac. Process., 31, 509–523, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2067,
2020.
O'Gorman, P. A.: Contrasting responses of mean and extreme snowfall to
climate change, Nature, 512, 416–418, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13625, 2014.
Obu, J., Westermann, S., Bartsch, A., Berdnikov, N., Christiansen, H. H.,
Dashtseren, A., Delaloye, R., Elberling, B., Etzelmüller, B., Kholodov,
A., Khomutov, A., Kääb, A., Leibman, M. O., Lewkowicz, A. G., Panda,
S. K., Romanovsky, V., Way, R. G., Westergaard-Nielsen, A., Wu, T., Yamkhin,
J., and Zou, D.: Northern Hemisphere permafrost map based on TTOP modelling
for 2000–2016 at 1 km2 scale, Earth-Sci. Rev., 193,
299–316, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.04.023, 2019.
Osterkamp, T. E., Jorgenson, M. T., Schuur, E. A. G., Shur, Y. L.,
Kanevskiy, M. Z., Vogel, J. G., and Tumskoy, V. E.: Physical and ecological
changes associated with warming permafrost and thermokarst in Interior
Alaska, Permafr. Periglac. Process., 20, 235–256, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.656,
2009.
Park, H., Fedorov, A. N., and Walsh, J. E.: Effect of snow cover on
pan-Arctic permafrost thermal regimes, Clim. Dynam., 44, 2873–2895,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2356-5, 2015.
Parviainen, M. and Luoto, M.: Climate envelopes of mire complex types in
Fennoscandia, Geogr. Ann. Ser. A Phys. Geogr., 89, 137–151,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0459.2007.00314.x, 2007.
Payette, S., Delwaide, A., Caccianiga, M., and Beauchemin, M.: Accelerated
thawing of subarctic peatland permafrost over the last 50 years, Geophys.
Res. Lett., 31, L18208, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004GL020358, 2004.
Raynolds, M. K., Jorgenson, J. C., Jorgenson, M. T., Kanevskiy, M.,
Liljedahl, A. K., Nolan, M., Sturm, M., and Walker, D. A.: Landscape impacts
of 3D-seismic surveys in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska, Ecol.
Appl., 30, e02143, https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2143, 2020.
Sannel, A. B. K.: Ground temperature and snow depth variability within a
subarctic peat plateau landscape, Permafr. Periglac. Process., 31,
255–263, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2045, 2020.
Sannel, A. B. K. and Kuhry, P.: Warming-induced destabilization of peat
plateau/thermokarst lake complexes, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 116, G03035,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JG001635, 2011.
Sannel, A. B. K., Hugelius, G., Jansson, P., and Kuhry, P.: Permafrost
Warming in a Subarctic Peatland – Which Meteorological Controls are Most
Important?, Permafr. Periglac. Process., 27, 177–188,
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.1862, 2016.
Schneebeli, M. and Sokratov, S. A.: Tomography of temperature gradient
metamorphism of snow and associated changes in heat conductivity, Hydrol.
Process., 18, 3655–3665, https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.5800, 2004.
Schneider von Deimling, T., Lee, H., Ingeman-Nielsen, T., Westermann, S., Romanovsky, V., Lamoureux, S., Walker, D. A., Chadburn, S., Trochim, E., Cai, L., Nitzbon, J., Jacobi, S., and Langer, M.: Consequences of permafrost degradation for Arctic infrastructure – bridging the model gap between regional and engineering scales, The Cryosphere, 15, 2451–2471, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2451-2021, 2021.
Schuur, E. A. G., Vogel, J. G., Crummer, K. G., Lee, H., Sickman, J. O., and
Osterkamp, T. E.: The effect of permafrost thaw on old carbon release and
net carbon exchange from tundra, Nature, 459, 556–559,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature08031, 2009.
Schuur, E. A. G., McGuire, A. D., Grosse, G., Harden, J. W., Hayes, D. J.,
Hugelius, G., Koven, C. D., and Kuhry, P.: Climate change and the permafrost
carbon feedback, Nature, 520, 171–179,
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14338, 2015.
Seppälä, M.: The term “palsa”, Z. Geomorphol.,
16, 463, 1972.
Seppälä, M.: An experimental study of the formation of palsas, 4th
Can. Permafr. Conf., Calgary, Alberta, 2–6 March 1981, 36–42, 1982.
Seppälä, M.: Palsas and related forms, Adv. Periglac. Geomorphol.,
247–278, 1988.
Seppälä, M.: How to make a palsa: a field experiment on permafrost
formation, Z. Geomorphol., 99, 91–96,
https://doi.org/10.1127/zfgsuppl/99/1995/91, 1995.
Seppälä, M.: Synthesis of studies of palsa formation underlining the
importance of local environmental and physical characteristics, Quat. Res.,
75, 366–370, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2010.09.007, 2011.
Serikova, S., Pokrovsky, O. S., Ala-Aho, P., Kazantsev, V., Kirpotin, S. N.,
Kopysov, S. G., Krickov, I. V., Laudon, H., Manasypov, R. M., Shirokova, L.
S., Soulsby, C., Tetzlaff, D., and Karlsson, J.: High riverine CO2 emissions
at the permafrost boundary of Western Siberia, Nat. Geosci., 11,
825–829, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0218-1, 2018.
Sherstyukov, A. B. and Sherstyukov, B. G.: Spatial features and new trends
in thermal conditions of soil and depth of its seasonal thawing in the
permafrost zone, Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol., 40, 73–78,
https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373915020016, 2015.
Sjöberg, Y., Coon, E., K. Sannel, A. B., Pannetier, R., Harp, D.,
Frampton, A., Painter, S. L., and Lyon, S. W.: Thermal effects of groundwater
flow through subarctic fens: A case study based on field observations and
numerical modeling, Water Resour. Res., 52, 1591–1606,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR017571, 2016.
Skamarock, W. C. and Klemp, J. B.: A time-split nonhydrostatic atmospheric
model for weather research and forecasting applications, J. Comput. Phys.,
227, 3465–3485, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcp.2007.01.037, 2008.
Sollid, J. and Sørbel, L.: Palsa Bogs as a Climate Indicator-Examples, Ambio, 27, 287–291, 1998.
Sturm, M., Holmgren, J., König, M., and Morris, K.: The thermal
conductivity of seasonal snow, J. Glaciol., 43, 26–41,
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022143000002781, 1997.
Subedi, R., Kokelj, S. V., and Gruber, S.: Ground ice, organic carbon and soluble cations in tundra permafrost soils and sediments near a Laurentide ice divide in the Slave Geological Province, Northwest Territories, Canada, The Cryosphere, 14, 4341–4364, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-4341-2020, 2020.
Teufel, B. and Sushama, L.: Abrupt changes across the Arctic permafrost
region endanger northern development, Nat. Clim. Chang., 9, 858–862,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-019-0614-6, 2019.
Thibault, S. and Payette, S.: Recent permafrost degradation in bogs of the
James Bay area, northern Quebec, Canada, Permafr. Periglac. Process., 20,
383–389, https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.660, 2009.
Turetsky, M. R., Abbott, B. W., Jones, M. C., Anthony, K. W., Olefeldt, D.,
Schuur, E. A. G., Grosse, G., Kuhry, P., Hugelius, G., Koven, C., Lawrence,
D. M., Gibson, C., Sannel, A. B. K., and McGuire, A. D.: Carbon release
through abrupt permafrost thaw, Nat. Geosci., 13, 138–143,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-019-0526-0, 2020.
Vionnet, V., Brun, E., Morin, S., Boone, A., Faroux, S., Le Moigne, P., Martin, E., and Willemet, J.-M.: The detailed snowpack scheme Crocus and its implementation in SURFEX v7.2, Geosci. Model Dev., 5, 773–791, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-5-773-2012, 2012.
Westermann, S.: Research data for “Thermal erosion patterns of permafrost peat plateaus in northern Norway” [Data set], Norstore,
https://doi.org/10.11582/2021.00052, 2021.
Walczak, R. and Rovdan, E.: Water retention characteristics of peat and sand
mixtures, Int. Agrophysics, 16, 161–165, 2002.
Way, R. G., Lewkowicz, A. G., and Zhang, Y.: Characteristics and fate of isolated permafrost patches in coastal Labrador, Canada, The Cryosphere, 12, 2667–2688, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2667-2018, 2018.
Westermann, S., Langer, M., Boike, J., Heikenfeld, M., Peter, M., Etzelmüller, B., and Krinner, G.: Simulating the thermal regime and thaw processes of ice-rich permafrost ground with the land-surface model CryoGrid 3, Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 523–546, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-523-2016, 2016.
Short summary
It is important to understand how permafrost landscapes respond to climate changes because their thaw can contribute to global warming. We investigate how a common permafrost morphology degrades using both field observations of the surface elevation and numerical modeling. We show that numerical models accounting for topographic changes related to permafrost degradation can reproduce the observed changes in nature and help us understand how parameters such as snow influence this phenomenon.
It is important to understand how permafrost landscapes respond to climate changes because their...